Preparation

For cilantro-yogurt sauce:

Toast all seeds in small skillet over medium heat until aromatic and slightly darker in color, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Cool. Finely grind seeds in spice mill or coffee grinder. Place cilantro and all remaining ingredients in blender. Add 1 teaspoon ground seeds and process until smooth sauce forms, scraping down sides frequently. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover sauce and chill. Reserve remaining ground seeds for meatballs. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated. Store remaining ground seeds in airtight container at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 300°F. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Working in 2 batches, cook meatballs until browned on all sides, about 8 minutes per batch. Transfer meatballs to rimmed baking sheet. Place in oven to keep warm up to 15 minutes.

Serve meatballs with cilantro-yogurt sauce for dipping.

*A thick yogurt; sold at some supermarkets, specialty foods stores (such as Trader Joe's and Whole Foods), and Greek markets. If unavailable, place plain whole-milk yogurt in cheesecloth-lined strainer set over large bowl. Cover and chill 4 hours to drain.

SELECT LATEST REVIEWS

Bison is a great alternative to beef that we are finding new recipes for.....we really liked this dish. I served it with a side of white rice, instead of bread to keep it gluten free. very flavorful and the meatballs/sauce is great with rice, too. Its a definite keeper

pamthecook1 from Dallas suburb / 10.08.13

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This is one of my keepers. I've made it four or five times now. I use ground beef (we got a quarter side of beef, so we have a lot) and non-fat Greek yogurt. The first time, it was extremely time-consuming, but it has gotten quicker. I definitely recommend making the sauce a day in advance. I didn't do that last night, and had to leave for a meeting, but it was delicious tonight! A little work, yes, but well worth it. One suggestion: be careful not to overcook the meat.

sandalslawrence from Philadelphia suburbs / 11.30.12

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This was really delicious, but not quick. I would make this every week if I were a chef with a kitchen full of equipment & a posse of dishwashers. I will make it again & try to simplify to make it a more reasonable weeknight meal.
I followed it pretty exactly, except that I accidentally doubled the spices. After finishing the sauce I realized I was supposed to save some for the meat. Since the sauce tasted awesome at that point, i decided to just duplicate the spices for the meat. I think the spices make the recipe.
Of course you could make this with beef or lamb, or some combination. But bison is so delicious & healthy, & they sell 1-lb packages at Costco :)

monicahahn from San Francisco Bay area / 03.06.12

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I'm surprised this wasn't super awesome. It's got all the great ingredients but it just didn't wow me. It's good enough, but I wouldn't serve it to guest.

MarcyW1a / 02.14.12

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Excellent. Used gr.moose instead of the buffalo but works great.Also, have to go dairy free so used coconut milk 'cream' in place of the yogurt and milk. The sauce would be much better with a clove or two of garlic in it. Threw the extra toasted spices in with some hummus and a little olive oil drizzled on top which we ate with pita bread. Saffron rice made it a meal. Felt it was too light with just the pita and meatballs.

blonke from Calgary, AB / 01.26.12

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I followed the recipe exactly as written, didn't substitute anything, and threw a few meatballs and a couple dollops of sauce in some pita bread. It was deeeeelicious. It took maybe 45 minutes from start to finishI'd say 10 or so for the sauce and 30-35 to assemble, shape, and fry the meatballs. Serve alongside a summer salad (we had http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Tomato-and-Cucumber-Salad-with-Pita-Bread-and-Zaatar-103394) and you're good to go!

serrefine from Palo Alto, CA / 04.22.11

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Wow!!! This is a keeper. The meatballs with the sauce was amazing. I used fat free Greek yogurt and it was still fabulous.

A Cook / 04.07.11

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This tasted great! I doubled the
recipe and didn't have the time to
toast and grind the fennel and cumin
seeds. Still tasted great. Warning -
this recipe does take a lot of time.
Listen to the suggestion and make
the yogurt sauce one day ahead. I
served it with a greek salad -
tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese,
olive oil, salt amd pepper - and the
meal was amazing. My husnband loved
it and I we're so excited we have
leftovers for tomorrow's dinner!

A Cook from Los Angeles / 03.13.11

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This was very good and a nice change from the Italian style meatballs that I am used to making. If you don't have mint or some of the dry spices, don't worry. Just add more garlic and cilantro and you should be good to go. That's what I did and everyone loved it.

yummy123 / 02.24.11

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I made this almost to a t, but
doubling the meat part. The first
batch, i made it according to the
recipe. I let the meatballs rest in
the freezer for a bit in hopes that
they would hold up. They did, but
still hard to handle. The meatballs
by themselves
were very good, but not as good in
comparison to the amount of work.
The second batch I made with 85/15
beef in a meatloaf format. Now we
are talking! The flavors went
perfect with the sauce (bison was
overpowered by it). Much easier to
put together and better tasting.
Delicious. Served with pita bread
and cucumber feta salad.